👋 Today, we’re looking at why the 2026 media layoff wave isn’t ALL bad news.

Restructuring press releases aside, let’s dive in! 🚀

This week, we put my big picture hat on. Tried to think big picture. And by ‘we’, I mean multiple LLMs and me.

AI-assisted research produced some interesting stuff! Let me know if you think this is meaningless fluff, or actually quite helpful…

Dead Publishers. Live Budgets.

The 2026 journalism layoff wave is already worse than 2025, and it's only March. The Washington Post cut a third of its staff. CBS News shut down its radio division. The Ringer took 3% cuts. Axios eliminated 11 newsroom positions. Press Gazette's rolling tracker names dozens more: Vox Media, Bustle Digital Group, CNBC, Nexstar across three major markets.

These aren't isolated incidents. They're part of a structural collapse, AI is destroying search traffic, legacy ad models are crumbling, and private equity is restructuring whatever's left. The publishers being cut are the ones that built their businesses on Google clicks and programmatic fill rates.

For anyone running a newsletter or small media business, the instinct is to watch this unfold and feel scared.

But there's a more useful frame: every publisher that shrinks leaves behind a roster of advertisers whose campaigns are now in limbo.

🎯 Where does the money go?

Media budgets don't vanish when a publisher cuts. The IAB projects U.S. creator economy ad spend hitting $43.9 billion this year, up from $29.5 billion in 2024.

That's not organic growth in isolation. A meaningful chunk of it is legacy media's loss, redirected.

eMarketer data shows 60% of brand leaders cut print investment last year, 50% reduced linear TV spend, and TV's global ad revenue share is falling from 15.8% in 2024 to 13.9% in 2026. The brands running those campaigns haven't stopped spending. They've moved the budget. Newsletters, creators, and owned media are where it's landing.

A 2026 Newsletter Ad Performance Report analysed millions of dollars in newsletter ad spend and found rebooking intent up 53% year-over-year, campaigns up 40%, and publisher revenue up 30%.

Happening in tandem with legacy media layoffs and general shrinkage. Coincidence, I THINK NOT!

🔧 Turn the layoff tracker into a prospecting list

Press Gazette publishes a live 2026 layoff tracker with publisher names, verticals, and markets. It is, functionally, a prospecting brief.

The logic is simple: when the Washington Post eliminates its sports section, ESPN hires six of those journalists.

The brands that were buying in WaPo sports coverage need somewhere to spend…

Enter… YOU! Assuming you have a relevant audience of course.

"We saw [Publisher X] made cuts to their [vertical] coverage. We reach a similar audience (and are growing not cutting!), worth exploring a campaign?”

🔎 The window is Q2

Because legacy media advertisers are usually clunkier companies/marketing budgets. They don’t move quick, unless they have ‘leftover’ budget. So the time to strike is ASAP.

Pull up the Press Gazette tracker. Identify three publishers that have cut in your vertical. Find the brands advertising with them.

The best ad sales moves rarely feel like sales. They feel like a well-timed conversation with someone who was already looking for you.

Be timely and helpful.

P.S. Need help selling more sponsorships? My agency Ad Sales as a Service helps new media companies do just that.